Societe Generale Banking on Libel Suit Against U.K. Paper

Image via WikipediaSociete Generale, France's second largest bank, has sued Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Mail on Sunday, for defamation based on an article last August claiming the financial services institution was on "the brink of disaster" and in a "perilous" state.

The Guardian reports that the Mail on Sunday  retracted the article and published an online apology, but Societe Generale said no dice, claiming the Website "oops" was difficult to find and that the paper had failed to publish in its print edition that the original article was not true.

Societe Generale alleges it sustained "substantial damage to its reputation and prejudice to its trade" because of the inaccurate Mail on Sunday article. For its part, the defendant contends it already said it was sorry and plans to contest the suit.